This dish is a rather unusual one for me. I’m a self-confessed carnivore so cooking a veggie dish when it’s not strictly necessary (because I need to feed a veggie or because I can’t afford meat) is not my usual choice. However, every day is a school day and I’m home alone for the weekend so I thought I’d experiment. I was pretty impressed with the result, not feeling hungry afterwards and I found the sauce really tasty.

Vegetarian Farfalle with a Zesty Pesto Sauce

2015-05-02 21:50:48

Serves 2

Healthy wholewheat farfalle with a zesty pesto and tomato based sauce, with feta cheese and baby spinach.

Arrabiata is Italian for “angry”. Nothing like some midweek angry chicken right? This is a simple but intense dish. The recipe uses poached chicken but of course if you prefer to fry or bake it, that will work too. This will also work well with yesterday’s leftover chicken.

Chicken, Basil and Mozzarella Arrabiata

2015-02-18 18:46:18

Serves 2

Succulent poached chicken in an arrabiata sauce with mozzarella and basil.

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add some sea salt, cracked black pepper, a peeled whole clove of garlic and the lemon juice and bay leaves. Turn down to a medium heat.

Boil another pan of water with sea salt for the pasta.

Finely chop the garlic, onion and chilli.

Poaching the chicken

Place the chicken fillets in the flavoured water and turn to a low heat (about 2 on the hob). Cook at that temperature with the lid on for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow to stand with the lid on for 15 more minutes.

Making the sauce

While the chicken is cooking, fry the garlic and onion in the olive oil over a medium high heat until soft. Add the chilli and cook for 1 more minute.

Add the tin of tomatoes and tomato puree. Mix well, then season and add the basil. Add the red wine at this stage also if using. Bring to the boil then turn the heat to low. Once the chicken is ready tear it into shreds and add to the sauce. This will be fine until the rest is ready, just stir it occasionally.

Cooking the pasta

Prepare the pasta as per the instructions on the pack. This is usually about 10 - 12 minutes for regular pasta and about 5 minutes for fresh pasta. If you're also making garlic bread, put it in the oven now!

To serve

Add the mozzarella to the sauce and mix well. Serve the pasta immediately with the sauce and garlic bread.

Too hot?

If you underestimated the heat of the chilli then add a spoon of sugar to calm the heat. The mozzarella will also help take the edge off the sauce.